Page tags

Add a new page

Pre-ramble

I feel like the main features that an Exalt have over a Heroic Mortal are: Magic (Charms, Sorcery, Essence), Artifacts (Gear Aspects from Strands of Fate is really good reading for this), Virtues, and the Great Curse.

Artifacts and Gear

To tackle the easy problem first I don't think that Artifacts need additional modelling and can be represented via Gear Aspects (from Strands of Fate) or "Extras" (from Fate Core) depending on the importance the player wants to put on a given artifact.

The Great Curse

The Great Curse is straightforward. It is best implemented as an additional stress track. Give it an appropriate number of boxes and a Minor, Mild and Severe Consequence and allow the players to chart their descent into madness and/or depravity. The Great Curse stress boxes and consequences can be used in place of the Mental stress track, effectively giving Exalted a larger reservoir of willpower, at the cost of having their behaviour warped by the Great Curse consequences.

Four Virtuous Approaches (FAE Approaches)

The four Virtues (Compassion, Conviction, Temperance, and Valour) are a little more problematic. Exalts draw strength from acting in according to their strong virtues, and court disaster when situation dictates they must act against their nature. One possible, rules light, take on this would be to adapt Fate Accelerated Edition's Approaches and allow each Virtue to be used in appropriate situations. In this paradigm failing contests with high-rated Virtues could cause stress to the Great Curse track.

Nineteen Proper Sutras (Fate Core Skills)

Athletics

Contacts

Crafts

Deceive

Empathy

Fight

Investigate

Larceny (Burglary)

Lore

Notice

Occult

Physique

Provoke

Rapport

Resources

Ride (Drive)

Shoot

Stealth

Will

Occult

The Occult skill represents your character's practical knowledge of Thaumaturgy, Sorcery, and magical creatures and their customs. Occult is useful to anyone, mortal or Essence-wielder, that interacts with spirits, ghosts, the Fae, or Gods as well as those seeking to wield the powers of mortal Thaumaturgy or Exalted Sorcery.

Overcome: Use Occult to overcome any obstacle that require a deep understanding of things of a magical nature. For example, you might roll Occult in order to examine the disturbed Essence flows around a manse and deduce what has gone wrong.

Create an Advantage: Use Occult to know pertinent details about the Demon Hordes of Malfeas and the Fae Hosts of the Wyld, or about the Essence that flows through all things and how to disrupt it. Occult provides a lot of opportunity for the creation of advantages in the same way that Investigate and Lore do.

Attack: Use Occult to directly harm someone with Thaumaturgy or Sorcery. Depending on the spell you invoke the target(s) can defend with Athletics or Will, or Occult if the target has an equal or greater rating in Occult.

Defend: Use Occult to defend against hostile magics or other supernatural effects, if your Occult rating is equal to or greater than the attacker's.

Exalted Magic

Charms, Sorcery, and Essence are the hardest to model since numerous, discrete effects are not how Fate does things. The below are several (occasionally contradictory) ideas on how to make the Exalted stand head and shoulders above mere mortals.